This gun is no longer legal. I don't object.

Watch the firing of a twelve-foot long shotgun with a two-inch bore. Pretty nifty.

Maybe legal to own but not to use.

A major flyway near me, Hawk Mountain, was where the locals used to climb to the peak every fall to blast away at thousands of migrating reptors for shooting sport.

A nice woman bought the entire mountain back around the 1920s or 30s, hired groundskeeper, armed, and the place is now a wonderful area to hike; it intersects the Appalachian Trail.

Some of the stuff from the old days was pretty destructive.

http://www.notoriouslyconservative.com/

I do object, a .22 can be pretty destructive.

Cary

That was a different era in history. Market hunting kept many a family going, and that's what the punt gun was made for.

Incidentally, it's illegal to hunt with, but some of these things were muzzle-loaders and they're still legal to own and shoot for the fun of it.

dale

Harrah's in Reno had one and pictures of it in use. I too do not have any problem with the gun as it is only a piece of metal and henceforth no different than any other piece of metal, neither good nor bad but simply inanimate.

I do however feel strongly about conservation and believe that those who poach or mis-treat animals wild or domestic should be severely punished.

KTK
OFC

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Originally Posted by Ken The Kanuck

Harrah's in Reno had one and pictures of it in use. I too do not have any problem with the gun as it is only a piece of metal and henceforth no different than any other piece of metal, neither good nor bad but simply inanimate.

I do however feel strongly about conservation and believe that those who poach or mis-treat animals wild or domestic should be severely punished.

KTK
OFC

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Frankly with all the talk of avian flu I'm not so sure the days when "the skys were darkened" with passenger pigeons were all that great :D

Jim

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Originally Posted by JGaynor

Frankly with all the talk of avian flu I'm not so sure the days when "the skys were darkened" with passenger pigeons were all that great :D

Jim

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I hear you Jim, but I think the talk is about " swine flu " and the gun might help eradicate the herds of pigs darkening the prairie.:D

KTK

Consider that the depletion of waterfowl AND the passenger pigeon was NOT the fault of hunters. Rather it was due to resturants serving the birds. I would class the people using "punt guns" in the same category as those factory workers providing the material for your steak dinner, pork chops, and Chicken McNuggets. The supply was thought to be endless, until it wasn't there anymore.

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Originally Posted by John Sukey

Consider that the depletion of waterfowl AND the passenger pigeon was NOT the fault of hunters. Rather it was due to resturants serving the birds. I would class the people using "punt guns" in the same category as those factory workers providing the material for your steak dinner, pork chops, and Chicken McNuggets. The supply was thought to be endless, until it wasn't there anymore.

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John, I disagree with you're not holding the hunters accountable. That's like saying that drug users are in the wrong, but not the drug dealers.

Though in their defense, I'd say that such massive amounts of slaughter helped them to earn some money, in the days when most folks, especially in rural areas, might be considered somewhat impoverished by today's standards.

Only recently, I found an item in an history book, referring to factories of the late 1800s, where power transmission pulleys were arranged above the factory floors to get power to each work station. This item mentioned in passing that the belts for the pulley systems commonly were made of buffalo hide!

In those days, people thought, "There are so many, they'll be around forever".

Up at Hawk Mountain, the locals did not shoot to eat; they shot just for sport and left mounds of dead hawks and all sorts of raptors around the mountain top.

In Italy, during bird migrations, the Italians today still take to the mountain tops and blast away, just for "sport", leaving the birds, including songbird flocks arriving from Africa, to rot on the ground.

Regards,

Punt Guns were not for sport, but for food market.
Besides birds hatch everyday and fuzzy critters make new ones every day.
And they taste good :)

Cary

Irv Joffe had one of those big bore cannons on the wall in his shop in Upper Darby, Pa. It was a percussion gun and looked like it would punish on both ends. That was back when you could buy a Lee Enfield for 14 bucks and a Jungle Carbine for 25. I bought a couple of trapdoor Springfield 45/70s there real cheap too. (as well as a lot of other stuff)